The National Academy Museum & School’s fourth annual Creative Mischief exhibition will embrace more artists, a wider range of media, and more space on the calendar than ever before. On view May 16-24 (including May 18-19, when the Museum is normally closed), the constant in Creative Mischief will be the energy that epitomizes this showcase for the latest work by National Academy School students and faculty. Works from more than 170 artists will take over every gallery in the storied institution’s Fifth Ave. mansion home, as well as the Academy School galleries. Admission is pay-what-you-wish. However, for Creative Mischief, a sense of waywardness is required.

Creative Mischief will represent the broad spectrum of artistic disciplines taught and studied at the National Academy School: abstract paintings and figurative works, site-specific installations, sculptures, prints, photographs and cyanotypes, as well as video and animation. Creative Mischief is a juried show, emblematic of the quality of the work and the artistic vision that went into its creation.

“In just four years, Creative Mischief has become the heart of our School,” said National Academy Director Carmine Branagan. “The year-round vibrancy that characterizes the National Academy School reaches its zenith with Creative Mischief, as does the camaraderie and overall collaborative spirit of our student artists. The enthusiasm is infectious, for all of us on the staff and all who visit the exhibition.”

Created by Academy School Director Maurizio Pellegrin, Creative Mischief began in 2012 as a one-day exhibition, in one small gallery in the school. A one-day exhibit in 2013, it moved to one gallery in the National Academy Museum. Last year, Creative Mischief became a three-day event, with more Museum gallery space devoted to it. This year the nine-day run of Creative Mischief virtually consumes the architectural gem that is the National Academy, top to bottom.

“Our students and faculty all look forward to Creative Mischief,” said Pellegrin. “Those chosen to exhibit in this exhibition are all doing serious work, and take a thoroughly professional approach to the art. But for this show, there is more than a little mischief involved as well.”